Heterogeneous Catalysis
Heterogeneous catalysis involves materials which are dispersed as particles too large to be considered as molecular in nature. This is in contrast to homogeneous catalysts which involve the catalyst material dissolved in a liquid solvent phase. The heterogeneous catalyst particles are microcrystallites which are attached to or embedded in supports which themselves may or may not play a role in the reactions influenced by the catalyst. The reactant-catalyst interaction occurs only on the surface of the microcrystallites. Materials used as heterogeneous catalysts include metals, metal mixtures, intermetallic compounds, and a wide range of metal compounds including metal oxides, sulfides, halides, other binary metal compounds, hydroxides, and polynuclear metallates with oxides, sulfides, phosphates, and halides. The effectiveness of a heterogeneous catalyst in increasing the rate of the reaction of interest, is usually very sensitive to the method of preparation. The details of catalyst preparation are seldom revealed for commercial catalysts and the maintenance of a proprietary nature for this technology is often the major method of market protection.